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US military deaths reach 2,000 in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-26 08:46
The American military death toll in the Iraq war reached 2,000 Tuesday with
the announcements of three more deaths, including an Army sergeant who died of
wounds at a military hospital in Texas and a Marine and a sailor killed last
week in fighting west of Baghdad.
The 2,000 mark was reached amid growing doubts among the American public
about the Iraq conflict, launched in March 2003 to destroy Saddam Hussein's
alleged weapons of mass destruction. None was ever found.
In Washington, the U.S. Senate observed a moment of silence in honor of the
fallen 2,000. "We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for their courage, for their
valor, for their strength, for their commitment to our country," said Republican
Majority Leader Bill Frist.
U.S army soldiers stand in the sand while
waiting for a helicopter landing at Forward Operation Base Ramagen in
Tikrit, Iraq, October 23, 2005.
[Reuters] | Critics of the war also acknowledged
the sacrifice, even as they questioned the policies of those who lead it.
"Our armed forces are serving ably in Iraq under enormously difficult
circumstances, and the policy of our government must be worthy of their
sacrifice. Unfortunately, it is not, and the American people know it," said Sen.
Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), the Massachusetts Democrat.
Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), a veteran Democrat from West
Virginia, said Americans should expect "many more losses to come."
"More than 135,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq. They did not ask to be sent to
war, but each day, they carry out their duty while risking their lives. It is
only reasonable that the American people, and their elected representatives, ask
more questions about what the future holds in Iraq," Byrd said.
President Bush warned the U.S. public to brace for more casualties in the
fight against "as brutal an enemy as we have ever faced, unconstrained by any
notion of common humanity and by the rules of warfare."
"No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead,"
Bush said in a speech Tuesday before the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives'
luncheon in Washington.
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